Constant Comedy: How I Started Comedy Central and Lost My Sense of Humor

De: Art Bell

Narrado por: Art Bell

Discover the riveting, hilarious true story of the birth of Comedy Central in what New York Times best-selling author, Dan Lyons, calls the “funniest behind-the-scenes memoir I’ve ever read, full of crazy characters, plot twists, and suspense".

Award-Winning Finalist in the Narrative: Non-Fiction category of the 2020 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book FestIn 1988, a young, mid-level employee named Art Bell pitched a novel concept - a television channel focused 100 percent on just one thing: Comedy - to the chairman of HBO. The station that would soon become Comedy Central, with celebrated programs like South Park, Chapelle’s Show, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report, was born.

Constant Comedy takes listeners behind the scenes into the comedy startup on its way to becoming one of the most successful and creative purveyors of popular culture in the United States. From disastrous pitch meetings with comedians to the discovery of talents like Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, this intimate biography peers behind the curtain and reveals what it’s really like to work, struggle, and ultimately succeed at the cutting edge of show business.

©2020 Art Bell (P)2021 Art Bell

great story telling and context of TV industry

I really enjoyed the ways this book told a specific and personal story will also zooming out to share what was going on inside the TV industry at such an interesting time!

'Started' Com/Cen- NOT 'Envisioned' Com/Cen-

God-awful narration with impressions that were parodies of caricatures. The Author comes across as a man with neither vision or invention not to mention his pure absence of a sense of humor. An MTV for comedy? Spoiler alert: the mighty AB did name it 'The Comedy Channel'- years before Google, Yahoo, Hulu, etc. How many peyote trips to Joshua Tree did that take to manufacture? Art Bell's elongated reign of mediocrity ended way prior to Comedy Central's entrance to pop culture relevance. The highlight of the book is when a YOUNG Bill Maher tried to get him (author Art Bell) fired for an award-winning ad campaign (literally) that even when described by the Marketing Director (author Art Bell) is an absolute atrocious antithesis of BM's unobstructed vision of 'Politically Incorrect'. Probably the most offensive element of the narration is knowing that men of little to no talent command colossal perks, crazy access and insane salaries. Art Bell channels Willie Loman 'in carne ed ossi' but without the satirical whack. This book has (to quote the late Greg Giraldo) 'All the sex appeal of a school bus fire'. This review is far more interesting and humorous than this entire read. I not 'not recommending' the Audible Book; but, be aware that out of the 7-plus hours, you may get 35 minutes of the good stuff.